Andes Students Help Folks in Houston

By Tom Coddington

BACK HOME — The Andes group that went to Houston is seen back at ACS on Friday. From left in front row are Harli Mahon, Britney Davila, James Camuti, Leandra Edelson and Mazzy Williams. From left in back row are Susie Little, Tom Little, Alexis Heannings, Hunter Kitchen, Michaela Valkavicn and Jeff Rhone. Victoria Karpovich and Stanley Andersen were not available for photo.
T.W. Coddington/The Reporter ANDES — During their recent break from school, 10 members of Andes Central School’s travel club and three chaperones didn’t just travel, they helped out people in need in Houston, Texas, in the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes of October 2017. The club had collected cleaning supplies, which were delivered before their arrival.

Eight of the students were sophomores: Stanley Andersen, James Camuti, Britney Davila, Leandra Edelson, Victoria Karpovich, Hunter Kitchen, Harli Mahon and Mazzy Williams; and juniors Alexis Heannings and Michaela Valkavich. The chaperones were Susie and Tom Little and Jeff Rhone.

“We received financial support from the O’Connor Foundation and the mission committee of First Presbyterian Church of Delhi, and we put on a dinner at the school,” noted Susie Little. “We had a place to stay in Houston, thanks to Tom’s cousins, Kathy and Jerry Evans.”

The students spent three days with HKAP, a Houston organization.

They built a new deck with a handicap ramp, cleaned lawns, cleaned and put up a new shower in one damaged house, spackled and cleaned other houses.

They also spent one morning handing out food baskets with the Saint Vincent of Houston food bank, and another day with Artist Boat, a marshland preserve, planting marsh grasses.

For fun, they visited Houston’s

NASA Space Center, the Houston Zoo, the Museum of Natural Science, the Downtown Aquarium and the Kemah Boardwalk.

They almost did not get out of New York. “We left in a blizzard, on a day when only six out of 60 flights left to go anywhere,” the chaperones and students recalled.

The students all said that they enjoyed the trip, including the working.